Oud

Robert Piguet's Oud has to be one of the most interesting and beautiful fragrances of all time so far for me. I came across it by accident, spraying exotic sounding perfumes all over my arms, looking for something special: oud scents and perfumes with Arab names by Boadicea the Victorious, Ex Nihilo, Xerjoff, and the like. Suddenly, this one shot right out at me. Almost like clean, powdery pine trees and soft, burning sugar - but a thousand times more powerful. It overwhelmed all the other fragrances I was playing with, and it reminded me of something very familiar... There is a celebrated incense company based in Bangalore, India, called Shroff Channabasappa. They produce a glorious incense called Little Woods that I am obsessed with, and ended up having to pay around £70 for excess baggage because of the sheer volume of incense boxes I brought back home with me. Robert Piguet's Oud reminds me a lot of Little Woods, which has been described as an aromatic fougere in the incense world, the only listed ingredients being fir, "oriental" woods (I would hazard to guess agarwood as one), rose, and "ambery sandal". Where a fair number of reviewers have mentioned cat piss and other such acrid and offensive notes detectable to their noses in Robert Piguet's Oud, what I smell is a beautifully complex, chocolatey, dewy green, floral honey. This fragrance not only lasts on my skin and clothes for days, but it also projects just as strongly as a traditional masala agarbatti would, permeating the entire space with its thick and luxurious, but ultimately soothing and intoxicating scent. This is a heady and powerful perfume. The best way I can describe it is like being sat on the floor of a fragrant flower garden in a South Indian rainforest at midnight; pungent sweat and therapeutic wet foliage like patchouli oil, the sweet perfume of leathery saffron, and the earthy scent of clay lamps lit with cleansing and invigorating camphor balancing out the almost oppressive plumeria-like florals and oozing plasticky-amber resins. As much as a name like Jungle Prince would appear more appropriate, Robert Piguet's Oud blows me away every time, and there is always something new that I pick up on with this scent each time I wear it. Undeniably stunning.

Again the name is very deceptive here...not a Oud centric fragrance at all but hey I think you've got to look past a simplistic name like simply 'Oud' as a creation with a base in Oud. (I'm sure it's in there somewhere?) I love saffron, styrax and Myrrh and was hoping this would deliver something special and it kinda does? I truly haven't made my mind up on this yet. I hate to label things with a sex but I'm going to anyway haha! Something about this leans slightly more toward the feminine as I felt with Casbah. I know, I know it's strange but that's the impression I got. This being said It's not too feminine to dismiss me wearing it and that is the usual gauge I use to determine how much I like it. The fir and saffron in top of this fragrance make for a bewildering opening that soon subsides to reveal an almost rusty, very dry resinous vibe. Although I quipped about the oud at the top of this review it is present but lends a harder quality possibly from the combo with guaiac wood. This is a strange one for me didn't hit me as instantly as Bois noir as a keeper but definitely worth another sniff especially if like me, you love Myrrh.

Very special and interesting fragrance. It opened with a very intensive heady Saffron note unlike many others with Rose and/or incense. After the top note had settled a bit, the bitterness of Myrrh together with the slightly sweeter incense note from Styrax started to join in. Shortly after, in the background, the scent of Balsam Fir became more noticeable together with hints of Oud here and there. New notes such as Patchouli and smoky Guaiac Wood became more and more noticeable as the fragrance starting to really settle. Once everything had settled, on my skin it took a few hours, the scent became more rounded and the Myrrh/Oud notes became the foreground and stayed strong for a very long time although all the other notes were still there. The Myrrh and Oud blended together so well that they complemented each other to make it a less common straight forward Oud fragrance. On my cooler than average skin, OUD had moderate sillage although it could be quite heavy on many who had average body temperature. This fragrance lasted forever on my skin (and my brain) even after several washes.

Animalic oud + burnt myrrh + earthy patchouli = masterpiece. People who do not smell oud are probably used to identify the usual wet woody notes as oud (aka synthetic oud) and/or used to have oud associated with saffron and rose. Since the oud here is real oud oil (in small amounts though, it's true), there's no rose and the saffron is a stealth note, most say " there's no oud ". Here there definitely is, and that's precisely why these don't like it! Straighforward, amped up on the animalic side by myrrh and patchouli: Mr Oud doesn't forgive. One may also have a feeling of a wet moldy cellar at some point, very interesting, very unique, even in the niche world. That, added to heavy projection and great longevity makes of this one a wild animal that only real fraghead will manage to tame. Evolution could have been more developed though. Fall/Winter evenings, 30+ PS: lovers of TF Oud Wood (or similar pastries) should better stay clear from this one...

Not even 1% similar to BR540, who vote that he is out of his mind....Serious, This have nothing to do with BR540. Oud de Robert Piguet its an odde to Oud raw matterial, smoky, resinous, and very animalc/dirty. The adden fir resins with the green aspect smoot the thing out and that myrrh and Saffran its to die for. An absolute modern masterpiece! Opulent and eternal!